Sweet Seduction Read online

  Her head moved against his chest like she was trying to find the right spot. She settled her ear right over his heart. “Have you ever wanted something, but you know you probably can’t have it?”

  “Baby, I haven’t been playing coy. If you want me all you have to do is ask.” He smoothed a hand down her hair, enjoying the rich feel of it. Like spun silk. “But you should know that while I don’t have to top you to have a relationship with you, all my friends are into the lifestyle. If that’s going to bother you, maybe we should talk about it.”

  “Or maybe you should show me and I’ll promise to try not to let the fact that my dad was an atrocious human being ruin this, too.” Her face turned up, her eyes still shining with tears. “I’m not usually like this, Macon. I promise. I’m not so damaged that I can’t have a relationship. And I know I pulled back this week, but I wanted you to know me. I thought it was a bad idea to jump into bed with you. I didn’t want to be just another woman you went to bed with.”

  “Uhm, baby, you seem to have gotten the wrong impression of me. I haven’t been to bed with anyone but my right hand in well over a year and honestly, there hasn’t even been much of that. I was stationed in Afghanistan and then I came home to divorce papers. So you wouldn’t be another woman. You would be one of two.”

  Her eyes widened. “Two?”

  He nodded and kind of wished he was the stud she thought he was. He was about to ruin that impression. “I married Elise when I was eighteen. I’ve never slept with anyone else. So if you’re looking for an incredible amount of experience, you won’t find it with me. You should know that. After the accident, well, there aren’t a lot of women out there looking for a broke, divorced, one-legged veteran.”

  “One and a quarter legs. We have to use all our assets, Miles.” She went up on her toes. “I want you so badly. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a man the way I want you. I want to be enough for you.”

  It was all he could possibly have asked for. He leaned over and brushed their lips together. “You are. And you don’t need to come with me. Like I said, I don’t need to top you to be with you. I’ll drop the cake off and come back here. We’ll play with the kids and maybe later tonight we’ll make out and see where things go. I don’t want to push you. This relationship is important to me.”

  She hugged him again. “It’s important to me, too. And that’s why I want to go. I want to see. Will they let me watch? Or will they think I’m a total perv for wanting to watch?”

  “Oh, that house is full of happy perverts right now.” He sighed, hoping he wasn’t making a mistake. “I’d already asked if I could bring you. Big Tag agreed. You’re welcome, but you’re coming in with me and that means there are some rules.”

  “Do I call you Sir? I caught that, you know.” At least she sounded happy again.

  “No. You call me Macon and you stay close to me. If I give you an order, it’s for your safety and the safety of the others. This is a private play party. There are going to be different scenes going on in various rooms of the house, though most people will be in the dungeon. And there will be naked people. If this was Sanctum, you wouldn’t be allowed to come in street clothes.”

  “I don’t have anything sexy.”

  “You’re sexy exactly the way you are.” He loved her in jeans and a T-shirt or her Top uniform or her PJs.

  “You say the sweetest things, Miles.” She glanced back up at him and gave him a tremulous smile. “I’m crazy about you. I want this to work.”

  He cupped her cheeks and held her still for a long kiss. He molded his lips to hers, going slow and savoring every moment. He couldn’t ask for more than an honest chance with her. “I’m crazy about you, too.”

  He dipped his head down again. The cake could wait a few minutes more.

  ***

  She clung to Macon’s hand and it wasn’t really about being afraid. She could finally hold it. She could finally feel their fingers threading together. She moved closer to him as they ventured out of the dining room after putting the finishing touches on the buffet. It was gorgeous. Macon hadn’t made everything, but in her mind his were the tastiest. In addition to the cake and a plate of tiny lemon angel food cakes with a dash of lemon confit, he’d made three types of hummus, put together a charcuterie board and a cheese plate, and a lovely selection of crudités. She’d helped him with the variety of vegetables, cutting them the way he taught her to.

  She loved living with Macon. She was fairly certain she was falling in love with Macon. Maybe it was a mistake, maybe she was being naïve, but he couldn’t have hurt her brother. She wanted the truth, but she was no longer sure she wanted it at the price of her relationship with him.

  “Are you ready? There’s a bar set up in the living room, but no one will be drunk here. Big Tag would never allow that. There’s a two drink max.”

  “Really?”

  “Discipline is the name of the game with this crowd,” Macon explained. “They can’t take care of their subs if they drink too much and they always take care of their subs. And here are our first naked people. Naturally it’s my sister-in-law. Yeah, I had to get used to that.”

  Ally felt her jaw drop. Serena Dean-Miles, the mild-mannered writer she’d gotten to know over the last week, was trussed up like a turkey and all she was wearing was some rope. It looked like quite a bit of rope, but it didn’t cover anything important. Her arms were bound behind her back, her breasts proudly displayed in what looked like the reverse version of a bra since her torso was covered but her breasts were left bare.

  “Who didn’t get her word count in, today?” Adam asked, his voice a low growl. She had to admit that Macon’s big brother looked fine wearing nothing but what appeared to be a pair of leather pants. His chest was perfectly sculpted, every inch of him lean muscle.

  “It was me, Master,” Serena said. Gone were her glasses and her typical bun. Her brown and blonde hair flowed around, making her look feminine and sexy. She bit her bottom lip and looked up at Adam with big eyes. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t have enough time today.”

  “She’s not really sorry,” Ally whispered to Macon.

  Macon grinned at her. “She might be in a minute, but it’s all play. They set up this scene weeks ago. They like to call it the ‘naughty author gives in to her muses.’”

  She couldn’t help but giggle at that. Did they really sit around and plan a thing like this? She tried to picture the three of them sitting around the dinner table talking about what kind of things they would use. Toys, she corrected. They would talk about what toys they would use when they played. Or maybe they would talk about it in bed. Maybe they would hold each other and talk about their fantasies.

  Did she have any sexual fantasies? All of her dreams revolved around Macon, but it was more about him holding her and kissing her. She’d kind of thought she would get through the sex in order to enjoy the cuddling.

  What if she could have more?

  Jacob Dean stepped up. Like his partner, he wore nothing but a pair of leather pants and boots. He carried a crop in his hands. He stepped in front of Serena and lightly tapped her breasts. “And what was our favorite author doing when she should have been writing?”

  “Thinking about my plot,” Serena replied.

  That earned her a hard smack on her backside from Adam. The sound cracked through the air. It made Ally jump, but Macon’s arms came around her, pulling her into the warmth and safety of his body. “It’s all right. She’s okay.”

  “I know,” she forced herself to say.

  Macon’s deep voice rumbled in her ear. “Watch her. She winces, but she doesn’t try to wriggle away. The sound is worse than the sensation. I’ve heard Serena quite likes the sensation.”

  Jake brought the crop down on her backside again. Serena did wiggle a little, but toward her husband. She definitely wasn’t trying to get away.

  “Do you want to try that again, love?” Jacob asked. “I could always get out the ginger lube.”

  Appa
rently Serena didn’t like flavored lube because she couldn’t get the words out fast enough. “I was on Facebook and then I played way too much Candy Crush. I’m so sorry, Master. Please don’t spank me again. I’ll be good. You really shouldn’t spank me with that crop.”

  It sounded believable and for a moment Ally stiffened, hearing some of the words that had come from her mother’s mouth, but then Serena looked up and the brightest smile hit her face.

  “Hey, Allyson. I’m so glad you could make it,” she said, sounding completely like Serena again.

  Adam squinted out and then smiled, too. He gave her a wave. “Hey, nice to see you.”

  Jake frowned at his partner and their wife. He put one hand on his hip as the crop tapped against his outer thigh. “Do you two remember anything about sceneing? Anything at all? Has the whole parenting thing turned us into that threesome? You know, the one that can’t concentrate on their scene and makes everyone crazy?”

  Adam seemed utterly unfazed by the Dom’s stare. “I was surprised to see her here. I thought she was going to go all Anastasia Steele on us.”

  “Good one, babe. I’d high-five you if Jake wasn’t so good with the knots,” Serena replied.

  “I’m about to remind you how good I am with a crop.” Jake’s arm went up and came back down, the crop hitting Serena’s backside.

  Serena gasped but Ally couldn’t miss the way she winked her way right before going back into her naughty author mode. Jake and Adam took turns “torturing” her.

  Macon kept her close, an arm around her at all times. She leaned against him, reveling in his warmth and strength. She’d started watching the scene with a deep anxiety, but each moment that went by she relaxed a bit more. Serena would look over every now and then and give her a smile or a wink, as though she knew it was hard for her.

  How much had they figured out about her background? Was she that transparent? She prided herself on never showing her pain. Only the thought of losing Macon had forced her to talk today. For a moment, when she’d been in his arms, it had been okay to talk about it, to let herself feel it one more time and let a tiny piece of the pain go.

  Macon leaned over. “They are about to get to the sexual part where my brother shows off his junk. This is where I take my leave.”

  Naturally he wanted to leave before the good part, but she let him lead her away. She didn’t even try to take a peek.

  He led her down the hallway. It looked like the whole house had been turned into a decadent palace complete with low lighting and thudding music that fed through the home’s speaker system. It was transformed from the airy, filled-with-light home she knew from eating lunches or dinners with the family. Everywhere she looked there were men and women in various states of undress. The women wore corsets and tiny thongs or skirts that really didn’t cover much. There were lots of stilettos and plenty of bare feet. She stopped as she watched a woman on a leash. She stared, looking for signs that she didn’t like the leash.

  “If that woman didn’t like her leash, she would break it and put her husband on his ass,” Macon whispered in her ear.

  Once more, she had the feeling of being completely transparent to these people. Maybe she’d been rude. “Sorry.”

  “No, they don’t mind you watching. If they weren’t comfortable with others watching they wouldn’t be here, but you have to get it through your head that these aren’t women who are being abused. They’re women who made a choice a long time ago about who they want to be. The woman on the leash is Karina Brighton. Her husband is a Dallas police lieutenant and former Green Beret, and he wouldn’t try to take her in a fight. She submits to him because she finds it relaxing and pleasurable for both of them. That leash and collar are there for play. The way I heard, Karina lost a bet and Derek forced her to try puppy play and surprise, she kind of liked it.”

  Even as he spoke, the big Dom sat down on one of the couches in the designated lounge area of the house.

  “So she pretends to be a puppy? Does she sit at his feet?”

  “I’m sure she does from time to time, but I think he wants this particular puppy on his lap.” He chuckled as the Dom lightly tugged on his sub’s leash and pulled her into his lap. His hands went over her hair and he stroked her. She cuddled up in his arms as he started speaking softly to another Dom and sub who seemed very cozy.

  What would it feel like to be able to cuddle up to Macon and feel completely and utterly like she belonged in his arms? What would it feel like to do it without any secrets between them?

  She’d left it too late. She couldn’t tell him the truth now. She would lose him.

  “Hey, are you all right?”

  She’d gone stiff again, her shoulders up around her ears. He thought she was scared. She forced herself to relax and gave him a smile. “I’m good.”

  His hand found hers. “Are you ready for more?”

  She was ready to spend as much time with him as she possibly could. She nodded and he led her down the hall.

  Three hours later, she helped Serena pack up the last of the food. Big Tag had casually snatched up the lemon cakes before heading across the property with his wife to pick up their babies. He’d also gifted Grace with a gorgeous Tiffany bracelet for her birthday, so Ally didn’t think anyone minded. Grace and Sean had looked completely satisfied with their evening and had even come over to tell Ally how happy they’d been to see her there.

  She’d watched all manner of loving perversion and it was making her think.

  “Did we freak you out?” Serena asked as she closed the lid on a container of hummus.

  “Only the guy with the whip,” Ally replied honestly.

  Serena nodded. “Yeah, when Kai gets the right sub, he can really go at it. Maia is a pain slut. She’s also a truly horrible human being, so she’s the perfect person to set off Kai’s inner sadist.”

  “They’re a couple?” They’d been the only thing she hadn’t eventually warmed to. There was something cold about the way they’d been, as though there hadn’t been love between them.

  “Oh, no. Kai can’t stand Maia and she sees him as a means to an end. It’s not all hearts and flowers and perfectly placed butt plugs. Sometimes it’s simply about getting something you need. It’s like that for a lot of single people who play. They come to Sanctum to let off steam in a controlled way that brings someone else what they need. Kai has a strong sadist streak. He controls it by finding partners who enjoy the pain he gives them.”

  He’d been gorgeous, a blond god of a man in leather, but he made her shiver a bit. “Holy shit, he’s like the Dom version of Dexter.”

  Serena nodded. “I’m so using that in a book. I’m sure Kai would describe it in more technical, psychological terms. He’s the resident shrink. If you had been coming into Sanctum and not a private party, you would have to be cleared by Kai first. Everyone in the club gets to meet with Kai to make sure they’re here for the right reasons.”

  Ally felt her jaw drop. “He’s a shrink? The dude with the whip?”

  “Yep. His specialty is PTSD in war vets.”

  Macon had mentioned a Kai. He’d talked about seeing him. It was a freaky world where the guy with the whip was helping everyone else with their sanity situations.

  But then again, maybe it was a freaky world period.

  “Hey, Serena, where’s the vacuum? I’ve got the living room back to normal. It just needs a sweep.” Speak of the devil. Kai Ferguson was standing in the kitchen wearing a perfectly normal pair of jeans and a T-shirt that hugged his lean frame. His sandy blond hair was pulled back in a queue and he had a pair of glasses on that did nothing to hide his hotness factor. He smiled her way and it was an open, honest smile that looked nothing like the gleam of sadistic glee in his eyes from earlier in the evening. “Hi. You’re Macon’s girl, Ally, right?”

  Being called Macon’s girl kind of made her beam inside. She held a hand out. “Allyson Jones.”

  “Kai Ferguson. I’ve been hoping to meet you.” He took he
r hand and shook it before stepping back. “I’ll talk to Macon about setting up an appointment.”

  “What? Why?” She had to admit that he still scared her a bit.

  “This was a private party. Didn’t Macon explain?”

  “Macon is going slow with the new girl,” Macon said as he walked in. He looked at Kai. “Macon is trying not to scare the new girl off.”

  Kai put a hand up. “Hey, I’m only doing my job. You know she can’t come to Sanctum without my clearance. Oh, Sanctum might move around from house to house right now, but the rules are the same. I know Big Tag will probably tell me to clear her because you’re the almighty pie maker, but it’s best if we all follow the rules.”

  “She doesn’t even know if any of this stuff is for her yet,” Macon argued.

  Kai turned his gaze her way. “Did any of the scenes sexually arouse you?”

  She felt her whole face go hot.

  “Dude,” Macon protested.

  Kai shook his head, obviously unwilling to concede his point. “Well, if she can’t even talk about sex then she probably has no place in a sex club. I’m not trying to be a dick, but I do have to decide if she belongs here. People come to Sanctum for a judgment-free place to indulge their personalities and their kinks. I watched her tonight. She seemed a bit on edge, like she was disturbed. I wasn’t the only one who noticed.”

  Humiliation swept through her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make anyone uncomfortable.”

  Serena moved to her side. “You didn’t, sweetie.”

  “She did,” Kai said matter of factly. “I was actually surprised that this was the girl who flashed an entire waiting room. When they described you to me, I kind of thought you’d be a free spirit.”

  “Kai, don’t,” Macon warned. “I know what you’re doing.”

  “Then you should know I’m helping.”

  It didn’t feel like he was helping. “That was impulsive.” And it had felt good. Why couldn’t she talk about it? Why was her sexuality less important than everyone else’s? Kai “Dexter” Ferguson was kind of making her mad, and that made her want to answer his question. “And yes, I did get sexually aroused and yes, some of it was disturbing and it still aroused me.”